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Jacqueline Dormer/staff photo
Kurt Shelhamer, Yorkville Hose Company captain, center, speaks to Thomas A. Palamar, city administrator, foreground, as Fire Chief Todd March, second left, looks on during the City of Pottsville budget workshop Tuesday at City Hall in downtown Pottsville. Also attending the workshop are Julie Rescorla, city clerk, left, and Michael P. Halcovage, councilman.

Antiquated equipment. Rising health care costs. Inflation.

The creepy spectres of revenue-syphoning line items have haunted city officials for years, forcing the City of Pottsville to increase taxes in 2011 and 2012.

And they are rising again.

After an hour-long budget meeting workshop at City Hall on Tuesday afternoon, City Clerk Julie D. Rescorla added up what the budget might be if all department requests - plus all of that - is taken into account: $8,478,229.

"That number will probably change," Rescorla said.

Otherwise, the city may have to increase taxes again in 2013.

The 2012 budget was $8,058,299. According to the Schuylkill County website, the millage rate was 18.47 mills, or $18.47 for every $1,000 of assessed property value.

The council may know better if another hike is needed at its second budget workshop scheduled for 4 p.m. Monday at second-floor conference room in City Hall.

Trends

Right off the bat, City Administrator Thomas A. Palamar said health care, insurance costs and pension contributions will increase next year.

"There's some big numbers that have come in that are a little troubling to us," he said.

The city has 60 full-time employees.

So far, the city has paid more than $1 million for health care in 2012, Rescorla said. Palamar said it will go up an average of 17 percent in 2013.

"I think they're blaming it on the federal health care mandates and some requirements that are being placed upon the providers, as well as employers, to jack that number up," Palamar said. "The good news for us is, even though it's a 17 percent increase, we're only looking at that 17 percent for half of the year. Our renewal is July 1."

Concerning insurance, including workers' compensation, liability and property insurance, the city paid $340,903 in 2012. In 2013, it will go up to $430,607 - a 21 percent increase, or $89,704, Rescorla said.

Palamar said the brunt of that was workers' compensation.

"Workers' comp went from $134,210 to $221,569," he said.

Looking at pension contributions, the city paid $417,511 in 2012. In 2013, it will go up $246,291, for a total of $663,802, a 22.7 percent increase, according to Rescorla.

"It's the stock market. And this pension crisis is the same for every employer in the world," Palamar said.

Revenue questions

Uncertain expected 2013 revenue is a big problem Rescorla and Palamar have in preparing the budget.

In July, the Schuylkill County Tax Collection Committee officially dropped the Central Tax Bureau of Pennsylvania, "Centax," as its local services tax collector. Centax was failing to process tax bills in a timely manner. Since then, the committee hired Berkheimer Associates, Bangor, Northampton County, for the job.

"We're still dealing with the Centax debacle," Rescorla said.

She couldn't estimate how much revenue to expect in 2013 because she wasn't sure how much it received to date in 2012.

"We think we have all of our money. What we don't know is who didn't actually submit returns," Rescorla said.

"We base our revenues on what we received. Some of it's on projection but it's usually based on actuals," Palamar said. "We don't have the actuals and we felt a bit uncomfortable coming to you with a revenue sheet today."

Palamar and Rescorla only presented Mayor John D.W. Reiley and the council members and city department heads who showed up with a tentative list of expenditures Tuesday.

Public safety

The City of Pottsville hasn't given its fire companies an increase in contributions since 2008, Kurt Shelhamer, Yorkville Hose Company captain, said at the workshop session.

Shelhamer was there with city Fire Chief Todd March. There are seven fire companies in the city with about 150 volunteers, Shelhamer said.

"Just as the city is experiencing increases in costs, so are the city's fire departments, and $22,230 per department per year doesn't cover our expenses," Shelhamer said. "That's why our fundraising is so vital."

The city had eight fire companies in 2007, giving each an allotment of $21,409.50.

In 2008, the city still had eight fire companies, and the city gave them a 5 percent increase with each company receiving $22,230, Shelhamer said.

In 2009, one of the city's fire companies, Greenwood Hill, went out of service. That year, the city gave the remaining seven companies an allotment of $22,230 each. The allotment that would have been given to Greenwood Hill was divided among the other seven companies, coming to $3,175 per company, Shelhamer said. After that year, the Greenwood Hill allotment ceased.

The seven fire companies each received a $22,230 in 2010, 2011 and 2012. Shelhamer and March asked the city to consider a 5 percent increase in the allotment for the companies in 2013.

"In the overall scheme of things, it's not that much money," Shelhamer said. "We're not asking for anything more than you're giving other departments, except we haven't gotten an increase in the last few years."

Old equipment

The computer software used by the city accounts and finance department is vintage 1999, Rescorla said.

"We've been limping along," Palamar said.

"In terms of computers, it's like hundreds of years old," Rescorla said.

"It's computer BC, but we make it work," Palamar said. "The reality of it is, it really is unsupported software. We make it work because people here just understand it and they know how to make it work."

But other departments are complaining about antiquated equipment as well.

The city police want to buy two new cruisers. The streets department would like to replace a truck that's been in use since 1987. The parks department would like a new lawn tractor, according to the agenda handed out at the meeting.

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